Owen Memorial Garden

Owen Rose Garden

by

Renee Manford

Owen Memorial Rose Garden is located in Eugene, Oregon. The park is comprised of nine acres of waterfront property (Willamette River). More then 100,000 people a year pass through the garden. The nine acres were once the property of George Owen, a lumberman and philanthropist. Owen donated the land to Eugene, which began planting roses there in 1950. The garden is open 6 am to 11 pm year-round.

There are many places to sit down, including benches, picnic tables and vast expanses of green grass. Owens Rose Garden is also home to one of few official historic trees in the State of Oregon.

The Black Tartarian Cherry is a great sight. In 1860, one of Eugene’s early settlers planted an orchard not far from the Willamette River. Today, one of the cherries in that old orchard has survived, and grown immense with age. Today, experts recognize it as the biggest cherry in Oregon, and some suggest that it is also the biggest cherry in the U.S. In honor of its size

~ by manfordrj on December 14, 2008.